THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF BENTLEY UNIVERSITY SINCE 1963
THE VANGUARD VOLUME LVVI ISSUE III
COMING SOON!
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2015
921 accommodates allergies and healthier eating News editor
Eating at 921 is a daily requirement for many students. Without a kitchen and with limited discretionary dollars, students have little other choice. But for students with allergies, this is not as simple as just heading to the Student Center a couple of times a day. They would arrive in the morning for toast with jam and find peanut butter in the jam. At night, all of the gluten-free bread would be taken before they could make their sandwich. Although Sodexo was always willing to help individuals with specific dietary needs, they now have several programs in place meant to make the process of finding good, safe options easier for those with allergies. These efforts have been led by Laura Klotz, the Bentley Sodexo’s Dietician/ Retail Manager. There are several changes in 921 that students will notice. First is MyZone. This
area has existed for several years, but used to be next to the cereal and milk inside of 921. Now, this area is behind a glass door next to the entrance line. MyZone is free for students to use and meant for those with allergies and special dietary needs, containing tree-nut, peanut, and gluten-free products. There are snacks on the counter for a quick bite, and breads and microwavable meals in the fully-stocked fridge and freezer. A big concern with
food allergies is crosscontamination, so students are asked not to bring in any outside plates or utensils. Within the room, they will find disposable utensils to use and a dedicated microwave and toaster. One student, Alexandria Steinmann (’18), who has had celiac her entire time at Bentley, is glad for the separate room, saying that this added more choices so those who were not glutenfree wouldn’t take all of the food she could eat. She says that 921 “has more
of a selection this year, but there should still be many improvements to better cater to food allergies because it is so important to eat healthy.” Finding healthy options for students who have to eat gluten-free is difficult, as a lot of gluten-free food contains high levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and calories, according to WebMD. Another Sodexo program, Simple Servings, tries to provide a solution. This is a food station is 921 that provides meals not only for those with allergies,
Courtesy of kidshealth.org
BY jennifer wright
but anyone who desires a simple food option. These meals are prepared without milk, eggs, soy, wheat, peanuts, tree-nuts, shellfish, and gluten, and the staff use separate pots and storage materials during prep. The options at Simple Servings are pretty varied as well; one day last week featured black bean cakes and pineapple chutney with ginger mango roasted potatoes. For students still concerned about crosscontamination inside 921, they can find microwavable Simple Servings meals in the fridge in MyZone for a milk, egg, soy, wheat, peanut, treenut, shellfish, and gluten-free option. Students in 921 will see a few other changes around the dining hall as well. First, instead of an open container of peanut butter by the jam and cream cheese, there is now a collection of peanut SEE 921, PAGE 4
YouTube star gives talk: “Transitioning Online” News editor
“I feel like we’re all on this path to happiness, or at least I know I am. And sometimes, it’s really hard. Sometimes it’s easy. Sometimes it’s exhausting, and sometimes it’s the greatest adventure of my life.” When people talk about their path in life, it’s not often with the end goal of “happiness” in mind. Usually you hear of someone working hard to get a promotion or buy that big house they’ve always wanted. Happiness is oftentimes an afterthought – after all, it’s not very easily measurable. But Skylar Kergil has been chasing happiness his whole life. It started at just three years old when he was at the hardware store with his grandfather. When his grandfather’s friends asked what to call him, Kergil replied vehemently, “You can call me Mike!” No one had ever heard Kergil call himself Mike before. After all, he was born Katherine Elizabeth, a female. But his parents just went along with this declaration and Kergil went by “Mike” for the rest of the summer before returning to Pre-K. Once back at school, he went back to the name “Katherine,” living as a “typical tom-boy” growing up. Gender was never on his radar. That is, until it was time for the puberty talk in school. Kergil watched the video
with the girls, but it didn’t feel right to him. Although he called himself Katherine and understood that he used she/ her pronouns, what he felt internally didn’t match the outside. He shrugged off the puberty video. Growing up, he had always just assumed he would follow in his brothers’ footsteps: get sweaty, develop acne, have his voice drop. After all, he had always followed his brother in everything. “I still kind of had this delusion that, okay, puberty is coming but that’s not for me, that’s not going to happen to me,” he said. But puberty did hit, and to deal with it, Kergil decided to try to just “fit in.” He dressed in tighter clothes and even tried dating boys, but it didn’t feel right. When visiting his father and going out to the woods, he would play a game where he created an alternate life for himself. In this game, he dressed androgynously and had a girlfriend, even imagining their first kiss. On
his LiveJournal blog, he would write about his day, and end every post with “I’m a boy, I’m a boy, I’m a boy.” That dual reality he could escape to daily allowed him to explore who he was and what he was feeling, while still acting as a female in daily life. In high school, he met a girl who dressed very masculine style, and had a short haircut, and he wanted to be with her. Without question of his sexuality, he simply started dating her, without specifically coming out as queer. Although others in his high school talked about them as the only “out” lesbian couple in high school, he didn’t identify their relationship that way; he saw them as a heterosexual couple. That disconnect between how he saw himself and how others saw him that he had felt for years, continued. It was shortly after this relationship began that Kergil met a trans person for the first time. “The first time that I heard
the word gender out loud that I consciously remember was in the word transgender,” he said. This topic that no one had ever discussed in his life before was now right in front of him, and it was concrete enough for him to understand that there was a word for how he had felt his whole life—and he was not alone in feeling this way. After that, Kergil began a long journey that lasted through his time at Skidmore College and up until today to transition to male. He’s now been on testosterone for over five years and has had top surgery and a hysterectomy, all experiences he mentioned in his talk at Bentley on October 19th, and that he describes on his YouTube channel, “skylarkeleven.” Today, he is a 24-year-old transgender youth advocate, YouTuber, poet, and musician. His quote on the path to happiness is from his welcome video on his YouTube channel. He started recording videos
Courtesy of julialuckett.com
BY jennifer wright
simply because he wanted to keep track of his own voice change once he started testosterone. After running out of space on his hard drive to store them all, he began posting to YouTube. His videos quickly grew in popularity and he now has over 84,000 subscribers, with some videos receiving over a million views. Colleges began reaching out to him to speak on their campuses, and now he travels giving talks on his trans narrative, sharing positivity, and encouraging openness and acceptance. Kergil is well along on his path to happiness, and seems to exude positivity when he speaks. This has had a powerful impact on his subscribers, resulting in him receiving the Trevor Project’s 2014 Youth Innovator Award for his contributions toward the happiness and health of LGBT youth. For those on campus who want to join the LGBTQ+ conversation, either as a member of the community or as an ally, there are numerous resources on campus. In particular, the student-led organization PRIDE (People Respecting Individuality and Diversity through Education), “promotes awareness of social and political concerns of its members and life at Bentley.” They meet every Wednesday at 9:15pm in the Equity Center in the Student Center, and all are welcome.